A tissue array chip having pieces of tissue disposed on a substrate has heretofore been used for the examination or analysis of body tissue. The tissue array chip is used for the examination of presence or absence of diseased tissue, the analysis of a gene or protein, screening, etc. through application of a stain solution for specifically staining a test substance to the test substance.
The tissue array chip is fabricated in the following manner. FIG. 11 is an explanatory view illustrating a conventional process of fabricating a tissue array chip. In step (a), body tissue is formed into a tissue block that is then punched to collect cores. In step (b), the collected cores are inserted into holes arrayed on and formed in a base block. In step (c), the surface of the base block having the cores inserted into the holes is sliced on the order of several μm to fabricate tissue array sheets each having pieces of tissue disposed thereon. In step (d), a tissue array sheet is mounted on a substrate to fabricate a tissue array chip. Steps (c) and (d) are taken repeatedly to fabricate plural tissue array chips.
A tissue array block used for the fabrication of the tissue array chip is fabricated using a device equipped with a punching system. Patent Document 1 discloses a device equipped with a punch for a base block and a punch for a tissue block. The device uses the punch for the base block to form holes in the base block, punches the tissue block using the punch for the tissue block to collect cores and inserts the collected cores into the holes in the base block, thereby fabricating a tissue array block.    Patent Document 1: JP-A 2004-215667